Archive for the ‘fear’ Category

Even President Barack Obama has gently used veiled threats and insinuations that he’ll go to any lengths to get what he wants.

“We won” flies in the face of bipartisanship and comity.

When Obama made his “outrage” remarks about the AIG bonuses, that was quickly followed up by Rep. Barney Frank asking for the names of all the AIG bonus recipients.

Then ACORN showed up to protest at the homes of some of those same AIG people.

Yesterday, two Washington Post reporters said the President of the United States is “attempting to harness public anger over the financial crisis” to pass his budget.

Once or twice, the president has lamely, limply, really, tried to mimic FDR’s “nothing to fear but fear itself” speech; but more often than not, “No Drama Obama” has hinted at other emotions beyond calm.
Obama is banking that his strong poll numbers will translate into the public trust and confidence he’ll need to reform, some say overhaul, and some say radically attack the financial system and Wall Street.

But pollster Frank Luntz and others say although the public approves of Obama himself, they reject some of his policies.

Public anger as a political tool? That’s been used before but rarely by the president.

And the use of fear by the President of the United States at this time is disconcerting at the least. Americans have plenty of fear and anger already: after losing jobs, retirement funds, and homes.

What American need is trust. But at a time when trust in Wall Street, bankers and others is at low ebb, the president is talking about fear, crisis, catastrophe, anger and “outrage.”

Laughing on Leno and “60 Minutes” was a lame attempt to blind the facts.

My imagination running amok? Hardly. In Scotland, protesters attacked a bank executive’s home and inflicted thousands of dollars of damage. In Paris the protesters rioted, setting tires on fire in the streets frequented by tourists. Around the world, the economic crisis is turning from simmering outrage to a boil of fear and violence.

The G20 will be something to watch: not just because of the usually boring diplomatic and financial talk. This time there are real issues and differences and the future of the American and world banking systems could surely hang in the outcome.

But added to that is an atmosphere of fear and even violence: and that is not a good way to do business.

Israel is one of the strongest countries in the Middle East and needs to stop giving in to a “fear factor” with regard to the prospect of a nuclear Iran, Adm. (ret.) William Fallon, the former commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

In Israel for a regional security conference at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, Fallon told the Post that he could not understand why Iran would even contemplate using nuclear weapons against Israel unless the country wanted to be destroyed.

Bt Yaakov Katz
Jerusalem Post

Above: Admiral Fallon while still an active duty U.S. Naval Officer

“Do they wish to go away?” he asked, insinuating that a nuclear attack on Israel would elicit a devastating response.

“They are not nearly as strong as their rhetoric indicates,” Fallon said of Iran. “They are not particularly strong militarily outside their own internal entity, and they have huge economic issues and political instability. Their nuclear capability might give them something to feel consolation in.”

Fallon abruptly stepped down from the command of CENTCOM in March after Esquire magazine portrayed him as being opposed to President George W. Bush’s Iran policy, describing him as a lone voice against military action aimed at halting the Iranian nuclear program. Today, he is a fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies.

Israel, Fallon said, needed to come up with a strategic plan with regard to Iran and other threats. The military was just one tool among many that countries had at their disposal when dealing with a challenge, he said.